Financially Struggling HOA Allowed Property Insurance To Lapse, Leaving Condo Owners In Recently-Burned Out 30-Unit Building Out Of Luck

In Lauderhill, Florida, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports:

• Days before their condo building burned, residents of Park South Six gathered to hear their association president say their building couldn't afford flood insurance. Some homeowners paid overdue assessments, and the president said flood insurance would be purchased. "I was rest-assured," said board member Jennie Valdes.

• No one thought to ask about the building's master property insurance policy. On May 7, owners of the 30 units in the unadorned white, three-story building learned they didn't have that either. "I paid my maintenance fees every month," owner Jassodra Kirsch told police recently. "What happened to the money?"

• Now owners are scrambling to figure out what to do. Some have talked with lawyers about suing the association board. Some have asked police to investigate the president and what happened to the monthly assessments they paid — $149 for one-bedroom units and more than $200 for the others. City and state officials say there's little they can do to help the condo owners now.

• The situation illustrates the dire straits of some condo and homeowner associations in this tough economy. South Florida lawyers and insurance agents say they're sure Park South Six isn't the only building around that's going without coverage, even though it's required by law.

For more, see Condo owners at uninsured complex that burned have little recourse.